One week after sweeping his division and the absolute at Pan No-Gi, Pawel Jaworski changed countries, moved up a weight class and did it again.
The reigning ADCC 88 kg champion won heavyweight and open-class gold at the Lisbon International Open No-Gi on October 10. The result gave him four IBJJF gold medals in eight days and extended a run that has made nearly every stop feel connected to something larger.
Jaworski had competed at medium heavy in Secaucus, where he won both his division and the absolute. In Lisbon, he entered the 91.5 kg heavyweight category, one division above his usual IBJJF class.
The experiment lasted long enough to make its point.
A New Division, the Same Result
Jaworski beat Matheus Paiva in the heavyweight final, then returned for the open class. He finished the day by defeating super-heavyweight Luuk van Nieuwamerongen in the absolute final, winning by three advantages.
Jaworski described the tournament as three difficult matches. He had traveled to Lisbon directly from a leg-lock camp in Malaga, turning a stretch that might have been recovery time into another ranking opportunity.
That detail matters because this was not simply another tournament win. Jaworski had already made history in September by becoming Poland’s first ADCC world champion. He followed that performance by taking medium-heavy and absolute gold at Pan No-Gi, a result JJM covered in Three Weeks After ADCC Gold, Pawel Jaworski Doubles Up at Pan No-Gi.
Lisbon added a different question. Could the same game keep working when the division got heavier?
Across three matches, the answer was yes.
The Value of a Smaller Stage
International Opens do not carry the visibility of ADCC or the major IBJJF championships. They can still reveal something useful about an athlete’s season.
Jaworski did not need Lisbon to prove that he belongs among the best no-gi grapplers in the world. He had already done that. What the weekend showed instead was how he is managing momentum.
He did not wait for the next major. He did not stay in the division where his recent results were most familiar. He took a heavier assignment, collected more ranking points and kept competing.
That is a demanding way to protect a winning run. Every additional appearance creates another opportunity for the streak to end. It also gives an athlete more chances to sharpen timing, adapt to different bodies and solve problems outside the conditions of a major championship.
Lisbon offered all three.
One Major Still Ahead
The next checkpoint is the European No-Gi Championship, scheduled for October 28 through November 1 in Italy. Jaworski is registered to return to medium heavy.
The IBJJF has framed that tournament as a chance for him to become the first male athlete to complete its No-Gi Grand Slam. He has already won the World No-Gi, Brasileiro No-Gi and Pan No-Gi titles needed for that pursuit. European gold would complete the set.
The Lisbon Open was not one of those four majors, but it may have been a useful bridge between them.
Jaworski arrived as the top-ranked man in the IBJJF no-gi standings. He left with two more gold medals, three more matches and evidence that moving up did not interrupt his pace.
Eight days. Two cities. Two weight classes. Four gold medals.
The next event will ask for something new. So far, that has not been a problem.